Lord Edward FitzGerald

Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763-4 June 1798) was a United Irishmen leader during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

Biography
Lord Edward FitzGerald was born at Carton House in County Kildare, Ireland on 15 October 1763, and he was raised in nearby Dublin. He joined the British Army in 1779 and was seriously wounded at the 1781 Battle of Eutaw Springs during the American Revolutionary War. The success of the American rebels in their war of independence against Great Britain inspired FitzGerald, who was convinced that the Irish could one day do the same. From 1783 to 1790, FitzGerald served as MP for Athy in the Irish Parliament, and he affiliated himself with the Irish Patriot Party. In 1789, he took part in an exploratory journey to North America, and, from 1790 to 1798, he served as MP for Kildare. He was friends with his cousin Charles Fox, leader of the Whigs, and his Whig sympathies and his Transatlantic experiences predisposed FitzGerald to sympathize with the French Revolution. In 1796, he joined the United Irishmen society, and he and Wolfe Tone travelled to Paris in 1793 to seek the aid of the French Republic in overthrowing British rule. On 23 March 1798, Tone and FitzGerald ordered the start of a general uprising from their hiding place on Thomas Street in Dublin. On 18 May 1798, the fever-stricken FitzGerald's safehouse was betrayed to the British by an informant, and FitzGerald killed one British soldier and wounded another before being shot in the shoulder and subdued. He died of his wounds on 4 June.